Blogging generates traffic to your business site and shows your potential customers that you're an expert. Offering free content adds value to your site, encourages repeat visitors, and helps your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings. A lot of our clients ask what should they blog about. So here are my top five ideas that should work for your business.
Simple advice from you, the expert. A basic tip that could start a conversation with a client and open the door for new business. Our clients, ReviseIt!, a team of editors, blog about writing and offer tips to help their clients succeed. Check out their excellent advice on paraphrasing. This blog post shows off their expertise and their extensive knowledge base.
A how to, or DIY that is appropriate for your business. A massage therapist could offer advice on how to set up a computer station for better comfort. A catering company could offer a basic recipe, a checklist for planning an event, or party theme ideas. Include step by step instructions instead of large blocks of text. Adding graphics or photos is extremely important to break up your content visually.
Review a book or product relevant to your field.
- What does the product do well?
- Would you recommend it?
- What do you do differently?
Keep your reviews positive, even when you disagree. Focus instead on what you recommend as an alternative. Focusing on options allows you to treat your peers with respect and you won't alienate readers.
A business related update. Share good fortune about your business with your audience, for example news about your business growth, or a feature on a successful client. Don't be afraid to show off your achievements. If you get written up in a magazine, newspaper, blog, or if you have a TV or radio spot about you -- blog about it. Make sure you link to the original content whenever you can.
Make your blog reflect you, your business culture, and don't be afraid to show your personality. A glass blower could be excited about new colors of glass that came in. You could have a picture of your cat sitting in your place of business. If you sell physical products, you could show off a new product being unpacked or modeled by an excited client.
One last tip - blog on a schedule. It's better to have weekly updates instead of a run of daily updates followed by silence.
Keep it simple and happy blogging!